MASTERY 



HOW TO MAKE 
THE MOST OF 
YOURSELF By 

HENRY SHERIN 




am jbKimiL 

Book - V ' 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 



HOW TO MAKE 
THE MOST OF 
YOURSELF — 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

OR 

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOURSELF 



COMPILED FROM 

LECTURES 

DELIVERED BY 

HENRY SHERIN 



Of health, and wealth, and wisdom. 
You may have a liberal share, 
If you will be but guided 
By the words these pages bear. 



NEW YORK 

THE TROW PRESS 

1915 






Copyright, 1915, by 
HENRY SHERIN 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 027370 



2)CU414439 



DEDICATED 

To those who want a hope that cheers, 
And banishes their doubts and fears 
Of being able to succeed 
In getting everything they need. 



HAPPINESS THROUGH MAN'S 
MASTERY 

ONE of the chief quaHties man inherited 
from his progenitors is the desire to un- 
load the responsibility for his troubles upon 
some person, circumstance, or condition out- 
side of himself. 

Adam blamed Eve for his trouble. Eve 
blamed the serpent. And men and women 
exhibit the same characteristic to-day. The 
man who is in trouble says he became the vic- 
tim of some person or condition which con- 
trolled his thought and action and forced him 
into his unfavorable circumstances. This con- 
dition should not exist and never will when 
man thinks, lives, and acts as he should. 

Man was made to be the lord and master, 
and never the slave, of himself, his conditions 
or circumstances. He was made to enjoy life 
and live happily during his career in this world. 
If he is the slave of some habit, circumstance, 
or condition, he cannot live as he should, and 
therefore cannot be truly happy. 

The man who is not the master of himself 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

and his conditions cannot be called a happy 
man, though he may be called a happy slave. 

Every human being has a right to claim the 
enjoyment of life and liberty on this planet, 
for the Great Creator never made a man or 
woman to be miserable. Misery is made by 
the human and never by the Divine. 

Many morose, sour, lazy, non-progressive 
people do not believe this, and their faith and 
their thoughts manufacture miseries innumer- 
able for themselves. 

Human miseries are wilfully or thoughtless- 
ly created by man. 

When the Great Creator fitted out this beau- 
tiful world to be the home and school of de- 
velopment for man. He furnished it with much 
to please the eye, to charm the ear, to regale 
the taste, to cheer the heart, and to interest 
and entertain the mind. 

He carpeted the fields with green, decorated 
the groves with shady foliage, loaded the trees 
with luxurious fruits, painted the flowers in 
charming colors, tuned the little birds' throats 
with cheerful songs, stored earth's vaults with 
countless treasures, filled the mountain sides 
with babbling brooks, and hung a canopy 
over us — 

10 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

With sparkling gems that ever shine 
For man immortal and divine. 

The desire to be happy is born in man, as 
is seen in the child that prattles on the carpet, 
or romps upon the lawn, and this desire should 
be gratified in legitimate ways and by legiti- 
mate means. 

But as he stands upon the threshold of life, 
looking into the great future, he is often car- 
ried away by temporary emotions, and fool- 
ishly thinks that the unbridled gratification 
of his animal appetites will plunge him into 
happiness never before experienced. In this 
he soon finds that he is mistaken, and that the 
unrestrained gratification of his animal appe- 
tites and desires leads only to destruction and 
death. 

It is by attempting to gratify these desires 
that a man often develops lasting and ruinous 
habits which are so difficult to shake off later 
in his career. 

Life will be an awful disappointment to the 
man who permits any appetite to become his 
master. It may give him a great deal of pleas- 
ure at first, but it will finally make him a slave 
who will ever dread to disobey the stern de- 

II 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

mands of his tyrannical boss, who deHghts to 
destroy his talents and degrade his body, mind, 
and soul. 

There can be no true happiness and satis- 
faction secured for man through his animal 
nature. 

The libertine indulges in his bubbling, costly 
exhilarations only to find distress, disappoint- 
ment, and disgust. The epicurean fills himself 
with the luxuries of the culinary art, only to 
discover indigestion, pain, and melancholy. 
The money hunter gives up all his time and 
talents to capture the dollars, and when he has 
heaped up millions, discovers that money be- 
yond his positive needs is a delusion and a 
snare. There is nothing in which men deceive 
themselves so much as in the pursuit of happi- 
ness, because they generally have a wrong con- 
ception of life. 

Happiness is a mental condition, not a 
physical one. Mark this: happiness depends 
upon the condition of the mind, and no man can 
secure this condition through the animal ap- 
petites, passions, and desires. 

Man is a spiritual being and must come into 
harmony with the Great Spirit before he can 
experience a happiness that is satisfying. This 

12 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

is absolute. It is a truth that has never failed, 
and there is no exception to it. But the great 
majority of the human family do not believe 
this. See them chase after some fantom which 
constantly eludes their grasp, and though all 
previous experience has demonstrated the 
futility of securing the object of their desires 
in this way, yet they push on to disappoint- 
ment, disgust, and despair. 

I have seen a farmer feed his hungry hogs 
on a cold November morning in the country, 
and when he poured his bucket of hot mash 
into the trough, the first hogs to reach the 
food plunged their snouts into it to their sor- 
row and retreated in anger, for the hot food 
had scalded them. But this did not deter the 
later arrivals from sticking their snouts into 
the hot food also. So it is with man. No mat- 
ter how many have had their noses, stomachs, 
and characters burned with dissipations in 
trying to satisfy the hunger of their natures, 
it does not deter others from rushing into the 
same fires which scald more severely than hot 
mash does the hog. 

There never was an age before this in which 
people tried with such determined energy in 
so many ways to secure happiness as to-day, 

13 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

and the kind they generally obtain vanishes like 
the morning dew before the rising sun. 

They race to theatre and show. 
Or to society to know 
The happiness their hearts desire, 
But in these things they never find 
A satisfaction to their mind. 
Or peace which they require. 

We are all conscious of the messenger 
within us that calls for satisfaction. This is 
our spirit voice calling for harmony with the 
Author of our being, and refusing to satisfy 
its hunger with the husks of time and sense. 

Our happiness, strength, and ability to rise 
above the trials, troubles, and unhealthy con- 
ditions that surround us depend on our being 
in harmony with the Divine. When we are in 
this condition we shall be beyond the power 
of the finite, and have no fear of disease, dis- 
tress, or fate, for the arm of the Almighty 
will be our strength. 

We have learned from our experiences or 
observations that it is impossible to be happy 
by the simple ownership of millions, or by 
gratifying the animal appetites and desires, for 
we have seen the rich, the statesman, professor, 
and libertine tossed from their lofty positions 

14 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

in the world into the dust of disgrace and 
slough of despair because they did not have a 
correct view of life. 

Without the realization of the union of the 
human and divine, no man can understand his 
place and work in the world. He may be as 
rich as Rockefeller, as great as Alexander, and 
as wise as Solomon, but without this harmony 
in his character he will ultimately be a failure. 
Man was made to be happy especially through 
his activities. He is an active being and should 
derive a great deal of pleasure through the 
development of his faculties. He should not 
hope to be happy who refuses to work and 
take an active interest in the affairs of man- 
kind. The poor tramp who would live on the 
hand-outs from the dwellers by the country 
roadside, and the rich tramp who goes around 
the world, sponge-like, trying to absorb every- 
thing possible cannot be truly happy. They 
may feel a kind of animal happiness, as the 
dog does with a fresh meat bone, but they have 
no real satisfaction. 

Work is the duty of man, without which he 
cannot be properly developed. Thus it be- 
hooves him to labor, no matter how much 
money he may have inherited, for without 

15 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

labor of some kind, he will be a weakling, in- 
efficient and unhappy. 

The world has a right to expect of every 
sane man, no matter what position he may 
occupy, that he take an interest in not only his 
own development, but also in that of the broth- 
erhood of man. Each individual is a part of 
the whole. 

First give attention to yourself. "Know 
thyself," the philosopher said. But few know 
anything of the value of the talents they pos- 
sess. Like the pearl oyster, they are uncon- 
scious of the wealth that lies within them, hid- 
den from the world. 

I have trained a large number of salesmen, 
many of whom became very successful busi- 
ness producers, but the initial experiences of 
some of the most successful were very discour- 
aging, because they were unconscious of the 
abilities they possessed. But with proper in- 
struction, good examples, and persistent en- 
deavors, they became masters of themselves. 
They discovered their valuable talents and how 
to use them to the best advantage, and were 
lifted by their own personal efforts into great 
successes and abundant prosperity. 

Many a sleepy clerk or workman has the 
i6 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

shrewdness of a Marshall Field, the diplomacy 
of a John Hay, the business capacity of an 
E. H. Harriman, or the mechanical genius of 
a Charles Schwab, but is unconscious of it. 

Thousands of men and women who have 
never tried to find out what they possessed in 
the way of mental and physical resources are 
going about complaining of their weakness 
and lack of ability to do things. The valuable 
minerals are discovered only by earnest search 
and can be mined only by hard work. So you 
can find out what is in your general make-up 
only by earnest attention to self. Knowledge 
of self is the most important thing to obtain 
and demands that you put it at the top of the 
list of your studies. 

Do not make the mistake of thinking you 
can neglect this matter and afterwards enjoy 
the blessings of a healthy, prosperous life and 
the satisfaction of a happy, ripe, old age. 

Young men talk of sowing wild oats, and 
think it can be done without loss. But the old 
declaration is as true now as it was two thou- 
sand years ago: ''Whatsoever a man soweth, 
that shall he also reap." This is a truth which 
has been proved by every human being since 
the world began. It is an absolute truth writ- 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

ten in the record of every man and woman 
and will be until time shall be no more. Look 
at the failures and suffering to be seen every- 
where, and how easily they can be accounted 
for. They reaped what they sowed. Sow dis- 
sipations and you will reap physical and mental 
torture ; sow idleness and you will reap poverty 
and distress ; sow doubt and fear and you will 
reap failure and despair. But sow faith and 
hope and you will reap happiness and peace. 
Scatter active, healthy, loving thoughts and 
you will reap health, power among your fellows, 
and prosperity. 

When you start the business of living, you 
should decide as early as possible what natural 
capital you have for this business. Guesswork 
will not do, nor will it do to go on experiment- 
ing on every idea that comes to you or that 
may be suggested to you by others. This kind 
of testing will most certainly end in failure. 

Many naturally able men drift through life 
unfitted for any vocation, because they failed 
to discover themselves in their youth. If you 
will study yourself as carefully as you would 
any other subject, you will soon find out what 
you possess in the way of natural capital. 
Some of your talents may appear insignificant 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

at first, but they will soon develop with exer- 
cise. 

In the matter of deciding your vocation, you 
may sometimes be assisted by some experienced 
teacher or character reader, but beware of fak- 
ers who tell you in large display advertisements 
of their ability to read your character and de- 
cide on your vocation from a sample lock of 
your hair sent through the mails. 

Spend no money on such fakers, no matter 
what their pretensions are. 

You may not be able to start life in the busi- 
ness or profession you would desire. There are 
few who do. Carnegie was a weaver boy ; Lin- 
coln was a farmer; Rockefeller a commission 
clerk at four dollars a week ; Andrew Johnson 
a tailor ; Sir William MacKenzie ran a village 
sawmill; Lord Strathcona was an Indian 
trader ; and Thomas A. Edison was a newsboy 
on a train. All of these and a great many other 
distinguished men began with the first work op- 
portunity offered, and put their best efforts into 
whatever they were employed at. The experi- 
ence of each was a part of his education, for 
no employment is so menial that it does not 
develop some fresh ideas in the active, thought- 
ful mind. Very few bank presidents have 

19 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

started life in financial institutions, and railway 
magnates often have come up from the ordi- 
nary laboring classes. When young they all 
attended the school of honest, hard toil, which 
developed their bodies, trained their minds, and 
established their characters on good, healthy 
foundations which fitted them for the greater 
future duties they were to assume. 

Do not be discouraged if you do not get into 
your coveted occupation at the beginning of 
your business life, but try to bring to every 
position you occupy all the thought, wisdom, 
and energy that are possible, so that you may 
prove to yourself and others you are a master 
of your work. 

Passing up from one position to another is 
an education and may be of great benefit to 
you in the future. 

It is a good thing to be a specialist in some 
particular line, but it is not a weakness to have 
a general knowledge of several lines of busi- 
ness, if you will give proper attention to the 
matter so as to be able to utilize your experi- 
ence. There are more people failures because 
of lack of application and concentration on the 
business they are engaged in, than because of 
lack of natural adaptability. Your success in 

20 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

any enterprise will generally depend upon the 
amount of application and perspiration you 
give to it. If you will to succeed, you can and 
you will. 

Do not let any person persuade you that you 
are fitted by nature for only one vocation, to 
the exclusion of all others ; for if this be so, and 
you cannot get into this occupation early in 
life, or you fail to make a living at it because 
of some circumstances as an oversupply, you 
will be left on charity. 

Thousands are existing upon charity to-day 
or depending upon their families, because they 
were compelled to give up their vocations on 
account of ill health or of business depression. 

I have seen college professors, clergymen, 
physicians, and lawyers, who were highly edu- 
cated men, unable to earn a living outside of 
their regular professions, and the reason was 
that they had given attention to one subject 
to the exclusion of all others. They stepped 
into a rut early in life, and remained in it men- 
tally and physically until they became incapaci- 
tated for any other employment. I have en- 
deavored to use some of those gentlemen as 
salesmen, but their services as such have gen- 
erally been unprofitable to the business. 

21 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

Many of the so-called educated classes are 
the least resourceful people in the land, because 
they know scarcely anything outside of their 
professional lines, for which reason so many of 
them fail in business ventures. 

Every professional man should know as 
much of business as it is convenient for him to 
learn. 

While your profession should be uppermost 
in your mind, do not be afraid to take an in- 
terest in other things, especially in everything 
you eat and wear, learning how they are pre- 
pared for your use. Make yourself familiar 
with every subject that attracts your attention, 
or business you may be employed in for a time, 
for it is part of your education. Students have 
had to engage in various occupations to pay 
their expenses when at college, and many years 
after were able to turn their knowledge of busi- 
ness gained in this way to good advantage. 

Street-car conductors have become street 
railway presidents; college-bred hotel clerks 
have risen to be hotel proprietors ; book agents 
have developed into publishers ; and newspaper 
reporters into metropolitan editors. 

Before entering upon any life work, study 
carefully your mental phenomena, for the mind 

22 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

is the man, and what the mind is, the man is 
and will be. The body is but the machine in 
which and through which the mind works; 
hence the necessity of training and developing 
the faculties to think. 



23 



HOW TO THINK 

YOU are conscious that you are a person- 
ality, with powers to think, feel, and act. 
Remember: "As a man thinketh in his heart, 
so is he." 

To learn to think properly is a very impor- 
tant matter, for your acts will be like your 
thoughts. Your life will be of the same charac- 
ter as your thoughts, and your external ap- 
pearance at ease and in motion will be deter- 
mined by your thoughts. 

In this respect man differs from the lower 
animals. From his earliest infancy he thinks, 
as is seen in the child on the mother's knee, 
which very early shows its discriminations. 
These discriminations are due to thought, for it 
cannot discriminate without thinking. As the 
child begins to observe, its curiosity is aroused, 
its thoughts begin to flow, and are expressed 
in the many questions asked by the babe before 
it can speak plainly. It is a pity that this spirit 
of questioning does not stay with the man all 
through life, for then he would be wiser and 
better developed. 

24 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

The weakness of the modern man is that he 
will not think, or allow time for thought. With 
the rush of business, the reading of the daily 
papers, and his efforts to secure some little 
amusement, he believes there is no time for 
thought, no time to fix the mind upon any spe- 
cial subject for even an hour. 

This desire to avoid the responsibility, work, 
and weariness of thinking on business, politics, 
and religion, has caused him to try to unload 
upon the efficiency agent, the political boss, and 
the priest or minister, the work of thinking for 
him. And yet men waste days and years in idle 
games and useless employment out of which no 
profit comes. 

The priceless moments of each day 

They foolishly let pass away, 

To come again no more; 

While they might in each golden hour, 

By thought develop mental power, 

Acquiring useful lore. 

Men have become brilliant writers, learned 
scientists, gifted musicians, and great inventors 
by using their so-called spare moments to ad- 
vantage. Each chose a thought and concen- 
trated upon it and turned the hours that might 
have been wasted into coins for future use. 

25 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

Concentration on some thought for even a short 
time each day will work miracles in your life. 
But without concentration you cannot hope to 
accomplish much in this world. 

If you would be a success at anything, get an 
idea, concentrate upon it, make it a part of your 
being, and it will produce; it will bring forth. 

Concentration made Thomas A. Edison a 
marvelous inventor, J. J. Hill a powerful rail- 
road owner, Theodore Roosevelt an expert 
statesman, John Wanamaker a merchant 
prince, and U. S. Grant a mighty general. 

A distinguished genius and inventor of our 
country was asked by a clergyman if his great 
successes in working out his inventions were 
not due largely to inspiration. He replied that 
about ten per cent, was due to inspiration, and 
the balance to concentration and perspiration. 
Concentration brings forth perspiration, and 
without this combination there can be no great 
success in any enterprise whatever. 

Thinking without purpose is like drifting at 
sea. Your landing is uncertain, and your 
safety doubtful. 

If you would gain success with any idea, you 
must concentrate upon it, for all the successful 
men of all ages have been men of concentration. 

26 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

They were men of one idea which so filled their 
minds that it excluded every other. By this 
mode of thinking, you can create health, wealth, 
and happiness. Think of health until it will be 
impossible for a disease thought to enter. 
Think of prosperity until every cloud of adver- 
sity disappears. Think of happiness until a 
continuous smile lights up your face even when 
you are asleep. The power that created you 
ever waits to heal all your diseases, relieve all 
your pains, banish all your fears, kill all your 
worries, and give you perfect health, abundant 
prosperity, and happiness beyond measure. 

If poor, weak, sickly thoughts would try to 
crowd into your mind, get rid of them by con- 
centrating upon some high-class ideal, full of 
life, beauty, and vigor. Ideals mould our 
thoughts, build our characters, and shape our 
bodies. The more we concentrate upon our 
ideal, the more like it we will become. This is 
an absolute truth. Concentrate upon an ideal 
that is rough, coarse, and vulgar, as the savage, 
and you will be like your ideal. Concentrate 
upon that which is weak, sickly, and delicate, 
and you will not be vigorous and strong. Con- 
centrate upon an ideal of health, harmony, and 
beauty, and you will become more healthy, har- 

27 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

monious, and beautiful with every added year. 
Every one has some image which his higher 
consciousness holds before him, inviting him to 
copy. Be sure this image in your case is one 
that will lift you into greater freedom, more 
harmonious living, and a happier mental and 
physical condition. 

Some say: "I cannot help my thoughts." 
But this is a mistake, for you can control your 
thinking as well as your acting. You can dic- 
tate to your brain as you would to a child, and 
compel its obedience with greater alacrity than 
you can that of any child. Start every morning 
and give your brain orders for the day, as you 
would your servant or amanuensis, and see that 
it obeys you. In a short time you will be sur- 
prised at its promptness and the power this will 
give you in any field of operation. 

The state holds you responsible for your acts. 
Your thoughts are the authors of your acts, 
hence the responsibility of thinking and con- 
trolling your thoughts. 

Master your mind. You can, if you will. 
Then you will master most of the troubles of 
your life, and bring to every day's operations a 
success, satisfaction, and joy you never before 
experienced. 

28 



PERCEPTION 

NOW, if we train the mind to think, we 
must train the eye to perceive, for with 
the eye we take in the objects we are to think 
about. 

An attentive perception properly directed may 
be considered as one of the most important ele- 
ments in acquiring knowledge, and there is no 
attribute of greater value in training the mind 
than a live perception turned into useful chan- 
nels. 

A wide-awake perceptive faculty is neces- 
sary if we would succeed in winning anything 
in this world. There can be no real progress 
without it. 

Man is born with this faculty, as every moth- 
er and father has discovered by the worrying 
interrogations of the small boy, who often gets 
on the nerves with his unanswerable queries. 

It is unfortunate that this faculty is allowed 
to go to sleep in middle life and old age. How 
few people ever gather the information they 
should from their observations. They pass 
through the historical and most distinguished 

29 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

parts of this world as they would through a 
dark tunnel, never bringing anything out on 
the other side. I went through one of the most 
famous museums in the world with a friend 
whose only remark was that the stuffed mon- 
keys were very natural. I have stood gazing 
in admiration at a wonderful painting and 
heard people say: "It was a waste of money 
putting such a rich frame on a chromo." Peo- 
ple visit great exhibitions, spend days in the 
various halls, and leave without any mental 
pictures of the wonderful sights which could 
be stored up in the memory for future use. 
There are persons who can pass through a 
magnificent garden where the flowers in all 
their beauty and variety of color are sending 
forth their sweet fragrance on the summer 
breezes, and never see the real beauty of the 
handiwork of the Great Painter. 

The boy who would succeed in school, shop, 
store, or office must have a live perception. The 
man who would win in business or profession 
must be wide awake to observe. The soldier 
who would distinguish himself on land or sea 
must be alive to his environment. A live per- 
ception is necessary to the artist, the writer, the 
traveller, the student, and the teacher. 

30 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

Books are all right in their place, but they 
never can and never will fill the place of per- 
ception, for the knowledge which a man re- 
ceives through his observations will be more 
thorough and lasting than that obtained from 
books alone. Some of the most intelligent and 
broad-minded men I ever met did not attend 
any school and had read very few books. They 
had received their knowledge through their per- 
ceptive faculties, and could describe the impor- 
tant places in the different countries with an 
accuracy that would surprise even an expert 
historian. 

If a man depends upon books only for his 
knowledge of countries, individuals, cities, ani- 
mals, birds, natural scenery, and many other 
subjects and objects, he will have very imper- 
fect ideas and conceptions of each and all of 
them. 

Book knowledge supplemented and corrobo- 
rated by perception is the most interesting, per- 
fect, and permanent. 

If you would train yourself to have an intel- 
ligent perception, take an individual for a 
subject. Describe the face upon paper; pay 
particular attention to details, such as the fore- 
head, nose, eyes, cheeks, chin, mouth, and other 

31 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

points which interest you, and go over the de- 
scription again and again. In this way you will 
know more about this individual in a few days 
than you would in twenty years living beside 
him. 

It will not do to give attention to this exer- 
cise occasionally, but it must be continued daily 
to arrive at any degree of perfection. 

The perception may be so developed as to take 
in a number of objects at the same time. For 
example, you may see a card with ten figures 
on it and train your eye to take them all in at 
one glance, so that you may be able to name 
each figure ; or look at a table laden with fruit, 
and call the name of each fruit after one glance 
at the table. This is an excellent and very inter- 
esting exercise. 



32 



MEMORY 

WE have learned that through the faculty 
of perception we have acquired very 
much information, but we must learn to keep 
the mental pictures we have observed or formed 
from our perceptions. It is not enough to view 
a beautiful scene and have it vanish from our 
mind, thus leaving us nothing for future use. 
We must remember it, put it away on the shelf 
of our mind, so that we may reach for it at any 
time in the future when we need it. 

The faculty of perception is then useful to 
us only through the memory. Perception and 
memory go hand in hand. The perceiving, ac- 
quiring, and storing of knowledge would be 
useless labor if we did not possess the power 
to bring out and display our fund of knowledge 
when we desired. We must have perceived 
anything very clearly to remember it, and the 
clearer the perception is, the better will be the 
impression on the mind and the more readily 
will the scene be recalled. 

We should train the mind to paint pictures 
of scenery or objects we wish to remember. 

33 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

The best builders are those who have the build- 
ing constructed in their minds before they start 
the foundation. If we would remember a fact, 
we should associate it with some old one we 
already have in store, and this act will serve 
to concentrate attention and thus secure it in 
the chambers of the mind. 

One of the best methods with which to train 
the memory is comparison, if the subjects we 
wish to remember have any likeness to an old 
fact with which we are familiar. 

If we wish to remember a name, associate it 
with some other name that is well known to us, 
and we will be able to recall it very readily. 
Often we can recall a name by going over the 
alphabet, and when we reach the letter that 
stands as the initial for this name, we immedi- 
ately remember it. Or if the fact w^e wish to 
remember belongs to a certain class, we easily 
remember it as an individual of that class. 

But in order to have any fact retained by the 
memory, it must be carefully thought over and 
put away in a recess of the mind and taken 
down often so as to become familiar with it. 

There is no modern plan for improving the 
memory with a few lessons so as to produce 
wonderful results, and all claims made in this 

34 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

respect are of no value whatever. Only by 
care, patience, and continual practice can a 
good memory be developed. 

You might as well expect a good singer to be 
produced by a few lessons. It takes time to 
train the voice, and then it takes time to keep 
the voice in condition. So with the memory. 
It is only by training and constant practice that 
the memory can be made to retain facts that 
can be reproduced at will. Repeatedly handling 
a fact will make the mind so familiar with it 
that at will it can be reproduced. As a student 
can be so familiar with his books that he can 
go to his library even in the dark and take down 
the book he desires, so may a man with facts he 
has stored in his mind take down any one he 
desires at any time. 

As we naturally accomplish much more when 
our tasks are to our liking, we should endeav- 
or to pursue some line of study that is very 
interesting and thus would be more easily re- 
membered. But in order to retain our knowl- 
edge, we must fix our attention upon it, for 
without attention the impressions upon the 
brain cells will not be very sharp and thus will 
not be lasting. 

Reading and study are useless if we do not 
35 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

fix our attention upon the subject matter. It 
is a common saying that when a student passes 
up from one year's course to another in col- 
lege, he forgets what he has already gone over ; 
and as a stupid, careless traveller may go 
around the world and bring back nothing but a 
hazy "It is wonderful," so the young man or 
woman may go through college and bring out 
nothing but a conglomerate that is useless. 

Much of the so-called education of to-day 
unfits the mind for real work or service in life, 
because the student not only does not get mind 
training, but gets no fund of knowledge which 
can be used in the years to come. His mind is 
like a sieve; every thought and fact passes 
through it. This is the reason that a great 
number of college graduates are practically 
useless in the business world. Drifting from 
place to place, they are unable to earn enough 
for clothing and food, and thus bring reproach 
upon higher education. Every large city has 
a list of useless college men who have not been 
able to fit into any recess in the great building 
of the brotherhood of man. They are like the 
broken bricks and splintered timbers at a build- 
ing, which have been thrown aside as waste 
material. Heaps of human waste material are 

36 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

cast away every year by the business world and 
progressive societies as useless. 

Better read one book or study one subject 
and master it so that it can be utilized in the 
future, than go through half a dozen college 
courses and be unfit for the tasks of life. 



37 



IMAGINATION 

ANOTHER faculty that should be culti- 
vated is the imagination. Some people 
think the imagination should not receive much 
attention because it sometimes runs wild into 
delusions. They scoff at the man who builds 
castles in the air which never can be put upon 
stone foundations on the earth. But it is a 
proved fact that a man cannot be great' who 
has not a cultivated imagination. 

No painter, architect, designer, builder, or 
business man can be a success who has not a 
good imagination that enables him to see the 
picture, design, or plan in his mind before it 
is placed on paper or appears a reality. 

It is impossible for a man to be a good me- 
chanic without the operation of the imagina- 
tion which sees the intricate machine completed 
and running before he lifts a tool or turns a 
lathe. 

He must make a mental picture of his work 
before he does it. If not, he will fail. 

The architect erects his building in his imagi- 
nation before he puts his plan on paper or has a 

38 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

tool lifted for construction. The successful story 
writer beholds the subject which he is about to 
describe, live, and act before he takes a pen or 
writes a line. The landscape gardener sees his 
whole layout before a shovel of earth is moved 
or a flower is planted. If you would cultivate 
your imagination, draw a picture in your mind, 
put it upon paper, describe it minutely, whether 
forest, river, plain, or any object or scene. 
Write it over and over again, and you will be 
surprised what a mental painter you will be- 
come. 

The great engineer saw the Panama Canal 
in his imagination before a rock was moved or 
a spade was used. The architect saw the sky- 
scraper lift its lofty head into the clouds before 
he made a plan or drew a specification. All the 
great leaders of civilization were men of strong 
imagination, and their faith in the castles they 
built in their minds constructed cities and real 
palaces on sea and on land. They built the 
mighty ships, bridged the rivers, tunnelled the 
mountains, spoke around the earth, and fa- 
thered all the great enterprises of our civiliza- 
tion. 

The most useful in this world are those who 
can look into the future and see the things that 

39 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

are to be which shall emancipate the man, ele- 
vate the woman, and lift humanity into light, 
happiness, and contentment. 

The extremely conservative man would re- 
press all imagination and call its pictures im- 
practicable. Thus he has disparaged the ad- 
vance propositions of all the great engineers 
and inventors of the past century. 

Were it not for the imagination, we would 
not have the telephone, electric light, wireless 
telegraphy, and the hundreds of other modern 
conveniences that have made living a pleasure 
and comfort in civilized lands. Throilgh the 
operation of the imagination, many a poor man 
has lifted himself out of the dingy shop to head 
a gigantic enterprise with millions of capital. 

Think of the great men of the past fifty years 
in this beautiful land of ours that have risen 
from insignificant positions and locations amid 
the jeers and scofifs of pessimistic companions, 
to surprise the world with their startling inven- 
tions which have been blessings to mankind. 
All the great inventions are the results of the 
seed pictures in the mind. The imagination is 
the father of all architecture and art, great pub- 
lic works, and great nations. How much of 
our own beautiful country is the result of the 

40 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

vivid dreams of Lincoln, Washington, and 
other leading statesmen, whose minds saw this 
mighty nation rising on this continent, attract- 
ing the world, standing above the nations of 
the earth financially, industriously, morally, 
and leading all mankind to that which is great, 
lovely, and good ! 

The most delightful and cheering faculty we 
have is the imagination. It lifts us out of the 
common drudgery of life and puts us in an 
Eden of beauty, where the air is laden with the 
fragrance of the flowers, and where fruit may 
be picked from a tree of life which gives us new 
feelings, fresh desires, and bright hopes for the 
great future. How precious is this faculty that 
elevates us above the trials, troubles, and per- 
plexing environments of to-day into the bright, 
cheerful, healthy enrichments of to-morrow! 

Cultivate your imagination; encourage it; 
try to make its pictures living ones, lasting 
ones; for as your mental pictures are, so will 
your future be. You will never rise above 
them. Your hopes and anticipations will never 
reach beyond them, and your life will never be 
more beautiful than the mental pictures you 
make of it. Thus you should aspire high, an- 
ticipate great things, and then aim for them. 

41 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

For it is this mental, creative power that will 
ultimately lift man to his highest level and 
greatest achievement. 

Our mental operations create our conditions, 
and as the artist paints a picture of life, love, 
and beauty, which raises the beholder into the 
spirit of the magnificent scene, so may you by 
your mental attitude raise yourself into condi- 
tions of health, love, joy, peace, and prosperity 
never before enjoyed. 



42 



HEALTH 

CULTIVATE your imagination with ref- 
erence to your health. There is a malady 
called "IMAGINITUS," which means that 
people who are not ill imagine they are. If you 
think you are ill, you will certainly feel ill. Peo- 
ple have been made very sick by being told 
their appearance showed symptoms of a dan- 
gerous disease. Thoughts and pictures affect 
the mind, and what depresses the mind disturbs 
the digestive organs, the nervous system, and 
the circulation. Avoid pictures of poverty, dis- 
tress, and despair, if possible, and paint with 
your mind pictures of health, life, love, and 
beauty. 

Imaginitus is the cause of most of the trou- 
bles and illness of mankind. Its influence has 
kept great numbers in misery on earth and 
sends thousands every year to premature 
graves. 

The imaginitus victim always sees dire hap- 
penings in the future, and fears for his health, 
happiness, and prosperity. He seems to delight 
in painting blue ruin pictures and looking into 

43 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

your face with a visage of calamity. He loves 
to talk of sickness and death, and can see more 
signs and symptoms of diseases than the medi- 
cal profession has yet discovered. He delights 
to pull down the shades in his room, to walk on 
the dark side of the street, and to tell of the 
dreadful things that have happened in the past, 
and may happen in the future. He pictures the 
monster fate clouding his brightest prospects, 
blasting all his hopes, and snuffing out the sun- 
shine of life itself. He thinks dark thoughts, 
and thus his mental pictures must be dark and 
affect his whole being. 

If you would have good digestion and strong 
nerves, let your imagination run in cheerful 
channels, increasing your faith, filling you with 
hope, and relieving you of everything that 
would disturb your comfort and peace. 

You were made to be healthy, prosperous, 
and happy, and if you believe this, you will not 
fail to come into the possession of the good 
things of this beautiful world. "For according 
to your faith, be it unto you." If you are a 
believer, you can lift yourself, if you will, above 
the material conditions that you are in. In this 
respect I am not advocating any special healing 
cult or cults, though I do not condemn them in 

44 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

some of their teachings, for they have had a 
powerful influence in the care and treatment of 
nervous diseases. 

Numerous cases in this country are witnesses 
to-day to the wonderful influence of mind over 
matter. 

Doctors may laugh and sceptics may scoff at 
the many reported cures by mental or faith 
healing, and say they are not genuine; but in 
this they are mistaken, for faith healing is as 
old as man's troubles. That people can lift 
themselves by faith above their nervous ail- 
ments, into health and happiness, is no longer 
doubted by the broad-minded, intelligent men 
and women of to-day, even in the medical pro- 
fession. 

Terrible distressing maladies which the unit- 
ed wisdom and experience of competent physi- 
cians of the most advanced schools of medicine 
could not cure have been relieved by the mental 
or faith healer, who lifted the patient above the 
material and physical into the enjoyment of 
health and happiness through the operation of 
the mind. And this is not new, for long before 
we heard of the science healing cults of to-day, 
there were doctors who discovered the futility 
of using medicines to relieve certain nervous 

45 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

cases, and who gave those patients drugless 
treatment with suggestions which proved suc- 
cessful in reheving their troubles and bringing 
them back to the enjoyment of health and hap- 
piness. The growth of mental healing has been 
so rapid in the beginning of this, the twentieth 
century, that the medical profession has begun 
to look upon it with considerable favor and g'wQ 
it a place in therapeutics. 

Numerous cases are known in many parts 
of the world which have been raised out of con- 
ditions of suffering and despair into new life, 
health, and constant joy by the exercise of the 
mind. By thoughts divine, we may ascend 

Unto the promised land, 

Our birthright to possess, 
And in a healthy body stand 

All free from pain and stress. 

Mind and body are a team that always pull 
together, and if your mind is full of sunny 
thoughts, producing cheer, your body will not 
be very ill. 

The influence of the mind on digestion, blood 
circulation, and sleep is well known. An un- 
expected disaster, or trouble, distressing news, 
or unfavorable expression by some friend or 

46 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

physician about your appearance will rob you 
of rest, unfit the organs of your body for their 
work, and destroy every useful effort which 
you would like to put forth. This being the 
case, you should banish fear from your mind 
and the calamity peddler from your society, 
even though he comes with pretended sympathy 
and free help for your thought-made troubles. 

You should especially avoid the advertised 
cure-all remedies and their free trials, and the 
food faddist with his fasts and menus of easily 
digested foods. They have been most success- 
ful promoters of fear, doubt, insomnia, and in- 
digestion. 

Nourishing food you must have and must 
eat daily if you would live, but avoid the fad- 
dists with their conflicting menus, which keep 
thousands of nervous persons in quandaries all 
the time, not knowing what to eat and what to 
avoid eating. 

Banish all the fear-mongers from your mind 
and allow your intelligence to do some work 
for you in selecting good, nourishing edibles 
which you will enjoy. Take moderate exercise 
in the beautiful sunshine. Choose cheerful 
company only, and fill your mind with happy, 
healthy thoughts, 

47 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

Then life will be a pleasure here, 

When you are freed from doubt and fear. 

Indigestion with its attendant troubles is said 
to be the most common aggravating enemy of 
man, and yet he may be freed from it easily, and 
live free from it. Only the worried, thought- 
less, lazy, careless individual will be troubled 
with this disturber of man's comforts. 

If you are troubled at any time with indiges- 
tion, you will not have far to look for the cause 
of it, and if you will use the intelligence your 
Creator gave, you will discover that you do 
not have to go to a drug store or a doctor for a 
remedy. 



48 



RELIGION, BIGOTRY, AND TROUBLE 

IT is well known to every man that the trou- 
bles which we often have, we bring upon 
ourselves, just because we expect them arid 
look for them as we do for a visitor, and feel 
rather disappointed when they do not arrive. 
Some people are so intent on looking for Mr. 
Trouble, they never see Miss Happy when she 
calls. There are some religious people who ap- 
pear to think it is a good sign of their sincerity 
to have doubts and fears torment them, and to 
go through life with mournful-looking faces 
which indicate apparently that they regret liv- 
ing in this beautiful world. 

A little city girl was taken to the country to 
spend the summer with a very devout woman, 
whose home was called "heaven on earth" by 
the religious orders. After a month's stay the 
little one wrote home and said she had seen all 
the heaven she wanted, and would like a change 
to some other place. 

This is a great mistake which many religious 
people make in trying to wear a melancholic 
face in opposition to the teaching of the good 

49 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

book, in which they profess to believe, and 
which says: "Rejoice evermore and in every- 
thing give thanks." 

Regarding the physical welfare of her peo- 
ple and the world at large, the church has been 
living far beneath her privilege and duty. In- 
stead of being as she should, an institution for 
generating health, hope, and cheer, she has in 
many cases disseminated sorrow, doubts, and 
fears. Instead of being a great hygienic or- 
ganization, healing body, mind, soul, and spirit, 
as the original church was, she has preached to 
her people that all must be made perfect 
through suffering, and this fearful, worrying, 
solemn suffering thought has kept thousands in 
misery, dread, and darkness, and prevented 
other thousands from coming into the light of 
the divine life, where nothing can molest or 
make afraid. Instead of teaching her people 
to realize their birthright, the right to all the 
good things of this life here, as well as the 
riches of that which is to come, she has taught 
that the Great Loving Father, the Author of 
all good, is also the Author of many of their 
trials, troubles, and afflictions, which they claim 
He sends upon them for their good. Instead of 
following the example of the healing Christ 

50 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

and His disciples in restoring body, mind, and 
soul, she has in many cases tabooed all mental 
and faith healings and branded them as the 
works of the devil. 

If the churches of the last half-century had 
done their duty as healers to their people and 
humanity, we would not have the healing cults 
of to-day teaching a legion of doctrines; and 
every church would be a healing society, lifting 
weary, sad, and afflicted humanity into health, 
prosperity, and happiness. 

But the ancient medicine thought had gotten 
such a firm hold upon them, it blinded their 
minds to the real truth as taught and illustrated 
in the Bible in the story of the poor woman who 
spent all her living on physicians, and only 
grew worse, as many a modern woman has 
done. 

The Bible contains scores of examples of 
body healing, and gives explicit instructions re- 
garding the matter. It is not necessary for 
any man or woman to leave his or her church 
home and join any special cult in order to be 
healed, for they can by faith lift themselves into 
health and comfort in any fold if they will. 
"Wilt thou be made whole?" said the Master 
Healer, but the man answered and said: "I 

51 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

haven't any man to help me into yonder angel 
consecrated fountain." "Arise," said the Heal- 
er, "take up thy bed and walk," and the man 
was healed where he was. He did not have to 
join any healing society. When he was com- 
manded to arise, he had faith that he could get 
up, and immediately arose. 

The objectors to churches being healing so- 
cieties should read the farewell address of the 
Great Teacher to His disciples and to those who 
would believe through their teachings and learn 
that one of their duties was: "They shall lay 
their hands on the sick and they shall recover." 
If we are to judge from appearances, many of 
the churches and their clergy do not believe in 
this kind of work, and have no faith in it. They 
wilfully reject the command of their Master, 
and by their actions limit the work of the Al- 
mighty. The Divine Healer said: "If the be- 
liever had faith as a grain of mustard seed, he 
could work miracles, even move mountains, by 
word of command" ; but the faith of the modern 
clergyman does not appear to be as large as the 
millionth part of a mustard seed, if we are to 
judge of his success in healing anything, or re- 
moving anything, except his stipend from his 
hearers' pockets. 

52 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

It is an easy matter for some faithless church- 
man, or form-bound minister, to sneer at mental 
or faith healing, and call the adherents to this 
belief "deluded mortals," but only an ignoramus 
or a bigot will do this in the face of its successes 
among intelligent men and women the past ten 
years. And he is a religious bigot or a jealous 
physician who will say that mental healing has 
not had considerable success in the treatment of 
functional nervous disorders. 

There are some good, sincere people who act 
as if they believe that every person who pro- 
fesses, teaches, and practises anything different 
from their views must be wrong. They pre- 
judge everything that does not fit into their lit- 
tle, narrow, antiquated model which was de- 
signed by their forefathers. Prejudice is non- 
progressive, destructive, and foolish. 

A fire was discovered in a livery barn one 
evening in the suburbs of a small city in Kan- 
sas. Three men rushed into the barn to remove 
the animals and conveyances, all of which were 
quickly rescued except a large, valuable mule 
which was in a box stall. The three men tried to 
lead or drive the brute to safety, but it declined, 
and declined in such an emphatic manner that it 
kicked two of the men through the stall parti- 

53 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

tion, preparing them for the hospital, and the 
third had to take a week's vacation to nurse his 
bruises. The mule perished in the barn because 
of his prejudice. The stupid, stubborn, foolish 
beast pre-judged the men's motives. I have seen 
many men act just as foolishly with respect to 
some matters that affect mankind, as this mule 
did in regard to his safety. They have a mulish 
prejudice against every proposition that is not 
in line with their professional views. They will 
accept anything that is called orthodox, no mat- 
ter how it has failed to give satisfaction, but 
refuse everything outside of their narrow be- 
liefs, no matter how beneficial it has been to 
some. They do not give credit to others for 
having any intelligence or judgment whatever. 
Prejudice crucified Jesus Christ, and has killed 
thousands since His day. There is no man so 
stupidly ignorant as the man who refuses to 
learn or even listen to something different from 
his established opinions. 

The great Biblical logician said: "Prove all 
things : hold fast to that which is good." But 
prejudice says: "Reject everything not in ac- 
cord with orthodoxy or standard teaching." In 
matters of religion and therapeutics, men have 
been very reluctant about making changes from 

54 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

the antiquated customs and practices of the 
fathers. Almost every change has been stub- 
bornly fought by conservatives, who always op- 
pose progress and close their eyes and ears to 
the light and knowledge which might reach 
their brains and lift them out of the delusions 
and superstitions of the past. 

Almost every man has a faith of some kind, 
but some people's beliefs are like barren lands, 
which produce nothing but sand to blind the 
eyes of the owners. The man who is mentally 
blind because of his faith will not come to the 
light, for he wills to remain in darkness. The 
Master Healer said: ''Ye will not come unto 
Me that ye might have life." And He declared 
that among His own brethren He could not do 
many mighty works because of their unbelief. 

By these expressions of the Greatest Physi- 
cian the world has ever seen, we learn His 
estimate of faith and will. 

Some sceptical people say we cannot remove 
a diseased condition by faith and will, because 
we cannot change the course of nature. Only 
the superficial thinker will make this statement, 
for by our manner of life we are changing the 
course of nature every day. 

Any functional nervous disease is an obstacle 
55 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

in the course of nature, and has been placed 
there by some one's mental action. But it can 
be removed at will, if faith and will are used as 
the instruments to put it out of the way. 

Faith is the great lever that lifts man out of 
doubts, fears, and diseases and plants him ''By 
the river of life, where he shall bring forth his 
fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, 
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper/' 

The cause of the largest number of nervous 
diseases is said to be fear. But why should a 
believer fear anything ? Why should he dread 
the future or anything that might come to him 
to-morrow, next week, or next year, if he is 
living by faith, as he should? This is the real 
proof as to whether a man has genuine faith or 
not. A man's faith, like his thoughts, will show 
in his life. "By their fruits ye shall know 
them." 

If we can prevent troubles and disasters, we 
should block them at once, but as most of the 
troubles and disasters which we have feared 
have never come, we have no right to waste a 
moment of precious time in discussing or dread- 
ing them. 

With a determined will, banish fear from 
your mind as you would a fox from your chick- 

56 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

en coop ; for as the fox will destroy and devour 
all of value in your coop, so fear will kill all 
happiness and joy and destroy even life itself. 

Trouble is like a cub lion : the more you care 
for it and feed it, the larger and more danger- 
ous it will become. 

Drive out every fear of trouble and doubt as 
to your ability to overcome the conditions which 
seem to entrench about you, and determine to 
win the objects of your desires. 

Ever dwell in calm security, knowing that, 
through the Infinite, you are superior to your 
environments, supreme over your conditions, 
and cannot be made a slave to any dark, dismal 
distress manufactured by the alarmist. Ever 
keep before you this fact : "As a man thinketh 
in his heart, so is he/' 



57 



THE WILL 

NEXT we will consider the will in its rela- 
tion to our character. We all know what 
it is to will, but how and when to use the will as 
a power in our lives is the important fact. 

The will may be defined in many ways, and 
by many terms, but they will all result in the 
same conclusion, that the will is the mental 
dynamo that drives the man. It is seen very 
prominently in every successful man and 
woman. It is written in the face of every great 
captain of industry. It flashes from the eye of 
every great soldier and statesman. It is the 
chief distinction between men as we see them 
in the business world. The successful man has 
willed to succeed, while the failure has refused 
to exercise his will at the opportune time, when 
a positive decision was necessary. 

Our success or non-success will be according 
to how we have willed. The Great Teacher said : 
"Be it unto thee even as thou wilt," and this is 
as true to-day as it was two thousand years ago. 

Your measure of knowledge, health, and 
happiness will be according to what you have 

58 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

willed. Many a man of fine intellectual power, 
cultivated perception, and brilliant thoughts, 
lacks decision and the power to say: "Yes, I 
will, this moment/' 

Lack of will power is sure to bring failure to 
our daily plans and exercises, and will reduce 
the efficiency of our efforts. 

A small boy was told by his teacher to use 
his will in getting up his lessons. He replied 
that he did not have any will, as his mother had 
said she had broken it when he was a year old. 
It is a great mistake to try to break any person's 
will, even that of a child. It should be guided 
into useful channels, for without it man is use- 
less. 

A decisive will is a very important mental 
phenomenon that should be cultivated. The 
habit of postponing everything when the mind 
sees the wisdom of acting is ruinous to mental 
character, health, and prosperity. All other 
mental faculties lie behind the will and await 
its action. 

Man who fears to say "1 will" accomplishes 
nothing of importance in the world and lives a 
drone-like existence. The determination which 
enables a man to say "Lll do it" is what sets 
one man above another in business, politics, and 

59 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

religion. Many a man of very ordinary ability 
makes a great leader because of the power of 
his will to act without delay. Will makes a 
man a giant among men, lifting him above his 
fellows, and changing the whole course of his 
life. Will ever leads and controls in every so- 
ciety, corporation, and business, in every city, 
state, and nation, and turns the impossible into 
the easy task; for nothing seems to be impos- 
sible to the mxan who believes and wills. 

Whether the man be a general, a statesman, 
or a captain of industry, the will must assert 
itself that the man may lead and govern. Dif- 
ficulties may be great, obstacles may be many, 
and barriers may be high, but the man with a 
persistent will is sure to win. Persistent willing 
is the distinguishing characteristic of all suc- 
cessful men. Look at the warriors of Ameri- 
can history, or the business giants of our coun- 
try who have risen from seclusion to the most 
prominent places in this land by their positive 
persistent wills ! And this does not mean they 
went blindly ahead, but rather exercised com- 
mon sense in the use of their wills. They were 
satisfied they were right and courageously 
pressed forward to victory. 

Every neighborhood has examples of such 
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INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

men, whose acts leave imprints on the tablets of 
time, which can be read by the people of their 
day, and will be by the generations yet unborn. 
Will power always makes leaders. If you 
would be a leader, you must show determina- 
tion and assert your personality, for only by 
these means can you command the respect of 
those around you. Get the habit of leaning 
upon others and depending upon their thought 
and action, and you will never have a person- 
ality, but will always be simply an attachment 
to society, and you may not be a very ornamen- 
tal attachment either. 

If you would develop your mental powers and 
be a real personality, avoid doing always as 
others do. You are an individual and should 
always assert yourself in every kind of society 
or business in which you are interested. 

The human hog whose dominant will would 
ride over the rights of others is generally de- 
spised, but not more than the insipid creature 
who never shows he has a mind of his own or 
a will to carry out anything. Be an individual 
supreme in yourself. This is not easy at first, 
but constant attention will develop you. Do 
correct things that are difficult to perform, and 
you will grow stronger with every act. Noth- 

6i 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

ing tends to develop the person who has pa- 
tience and determined will, as opposition, and 
as the man who rows up-stream makes his mus- 
cle stronger by so doing, so the man who per- 
forms unpleasant tasks increases his mental 
muscle, making him strong and ready for the 
battles of life. A man never grows mentally, 
morally, or physically, without labor or testing 
exercise; so you cannot have your faculties 
grow and increase in power by always doing the 
enjoyable, easy things. 

Some people would remove all the obstacles 
from the pathway of man, so that the good 
things of this world, health and prosperity, 
would come to him without any strenuous ef- 
fort on his part. By this plan many a rich 
father, who rose from poverty, ruined his son, 
and many a well-meaning mother spoiled her 
boy or girl. Make the young man and woman 
hot-house plants, and they will be unhealthy 
weaklings in business fields, amid the trying 
storms of competition, or under the scorching 
sun of moral or social criticism. 

Any person can give time and attention to 
an agreeable, enjoyable matter, but it takes will 
power to face a subject which may develop 
strong opposition. 

62 



FEELINGS 

WE hear people almost every day give the 
excuse for not doing their duty, saying: 
*'I do not feel like it/' This excuse has killed 
great opportunities for many who might have 
been giant successes in business and profes- 
sions. It has blocked the way, impeded the prog- 
ress, and blasted the prospects of millions of 
persons, now worthless, who should have been 
healthy, prosperous, and happy. 

Many a woman neglects to care for her health 
and appearance because she does not feel like it. 
It takes time, patience, and will power to be 
able to make an attractive appearance, and yet 
every woman, rich or poor, may make herself 
attractive if she will. A clean, cheerful, healthy, 
happy face is always attractive, and you may 
possess it if you will. Pay the price of effort 
and time and you will have your reward. 

Health also demands that you give it time 
and attention, or it may leave you, for, like a 
loving companion, it is very jealous of your 
attentions to other things if you neglect its de- 
mands. Health will not stay with you un- 

63 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

less you treat it right. If you give all your 
time to business cares and neglect to take an 
active interest in health or allow it a place in 
your thoughts, it will refuse to be your com- 
panion longer and leave you to mourn in lone- 
liness and despair. You may enjoy good health 
if you will think of it, act for it, and live for it. 

Others have feelings of pride that will not 
allow them to perform certain kinds of honor- 
able work by which they might earn a good 
living. Some people would rather starve than 
employ their time profitably in some business 
where they would have to soil their hands, or 
solicit orders for a useful line of goods. 

A lawyer who could not make a living in his 
profession came to me for advice as to what he 
had better do. I suggested to him a position as 
salesman for a household article for which he 
had secured the patent for a client. ''O," he said, 
''my dignity would not allow me to engage in 
such employment." False pride is the curse of 
many professional men. It blinds the minds, 
dwarfs the talents, fetters the wills, and de- 
stroys the energies of those who otherwise 
might be very influential and useful. 

All legitimate work is honorable, and the man 
who is starving or in want, when he could get 

64 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

honorable employment at reasonable wages 
which he refuses because he dislikes the work, 
deserves little sympathy and no gratuities. The 
business world always has a place for the man 
who is ready to take hold of the first opportunity 
to work that is offered, and is ready to promote 
the man who does his work in a highly efficient 
manner. Lack of efficiency is the real cause of 
many people being out of employment, or being 
kept in menial positions. They are wilfully in- 
competent. Wilful incompetency is seen in 
every vocation, from the kitchen maid to the 
society leader, and from the street sweeper to 
the bishop. In fact it is only a small minority 
who do their work in an efficient manner. In- 
completeness is the prominent characteristic 
seen everywhere, in the kitchen, the shop, the 
store, the court room, and the church. No trade 
or profession escapes it, and this is the reason 
for the constant demand for efficient men and 
women. The stairway door is always open for 
the competent man or woman to ascend, and 
the invitation to come up higher is written upon 
every step. 

It is a great mistake to' allow your feelings to 
overcome you. The man or woman who always 
acts on feelings will make numerous mistakes, 

65 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

cause many troubles, and be unfaithful in the 
important duties of life. Feelings without a 
strong mental check-rein are like the balky or 
untamed steed which throws the rider on the 
rocks. Large numbers of men and women are 
thrown every day by acting according to their 
feelings, regardless of profit, good sense, or 
judgment. They neglect duty, disregard warn- 
ings, default in engagements, all of which are 
unprofitable and very injurious to mental char- 
acter. 

The feelings of jealousy and envy are two of 
the worst enemies of the human family. They 
are seen in every tribe, race, and nation. These 
twin sisters of destruction are the most com- 
mon, unreasonable, blinding, damaging pests 
of our race, because they quickly change an 
angel of love into a fiend, a sane, intelligent be- 
ing into a lunatic, and an earthly paradise into 
a hell. They destroy health, wealth, and wis- 
dom without any reason whatever. 

There are those who envy others because of 
their wealth, their clothing, their advantages, 
their associations, and their appearance. But 
what does their envy yield them ? Nothing but 
misery of the most aggravating character. And 
yet I have seen people wrought up with this 

66 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

mischief-maker until their health was injured, 
their happiness destroyed, and their business 
ruined. 

Since it will not bring you any profit, why 
should you envy any one what he possesses? 
If his wealth was obtained by honest means and 
is being used in useful channels^ you should 
admire him. 

If his possessions have been accumulated by 
the dishonest methods of an ancestor who 
heaped up riches for his untried, undeveloped 
son to spend in gratifying his animal appetites 
and desires, you should pity this poor drone of 
society, who has been made useless and worth- 
less in this world by a foolish father who raised 
him for amusement and enjoyment alone until 
death should end his career. 

As there is nothing to be gained and much to 
be lost by envy and jealousy, you should drive 
these two spirits of darkness from your mental 
chambers, and never permit them to be enter- 
tained or harbored there for a moment. 

Angry passions are also responsible for much 
of the suffering and unhappiness of man. They 
cause dyspepsia, apoplexy, insomnia, and scores 
of c^her troubles which harass the lives and 
prematurely end the careers of many. 

67 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

But individual mastery is the power which 
keeps the mind at equiHbrium, and is the most 
efficient quahfication that any mind can possess. 
It is independent of conditions and environ- 
ments and holds us in the face of fire and storm. 
It cows the blustering mob and frustrates the 
designs of the most blatant demagogue in the 
discussion of any public question. 

It brings satisfaction, peace, and power to its 
possessor, and wins the admiration of the most 
hostile foe. 

The Biblical statement is that "He that ruleth 
his own spirit is greater than he that taketh a 
city." This is absolutely true. 

Feelings are useful and a valuable asset when 
controlled by common sense, judgment, and the 
will, and without them a man or a woman would 
be a human iceberg, but they must always be 
the servant and never the master of the man. 

Every faculty which the Great Creator en- 
dowed man with was intended to be used for 
his happiness. Thus the emotions, when prop- 
erly controlled, should elevate and cheer man 
and bring him into harmony with the Divine. 

Many people complain of the lack of control 
of their feelings and believe it is not always pos- 
sible to master them. This is a shameful admis- 

68 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

sion for any man or woman to make. The laws 
of our land hold every sane man responsible for 
his acts, but what he does without the consent 
of his will is not his own act, but that of the 
power which compelled him. But no power 
can force us or control us without the consent of 
our wills if we are free. 

No one can make us unhappy unless we are 
willing to allow him to do so, and if we are 
linked to the Divine, which is our privilege and 
our duty, no condition or influence whatever 
can force us to be unhappy. "If God," the 
source of all happiness^ "be for us, who can be 
against us?" 

When we come into this harmony with the 
Divine and are conscious of this great principle 
within us, which is supreme over all material 
things, we rise to the highest point of our effi- 
ciency, where nothing can daunt us or make us 
afraid, and where the darkest clouds become 
transparent and the loudest thunders music to 
our souls. 

When we are master of ourselves, as we 
should be, we will never allow a thought to 
dwell in our minds that will disturb our peace. 
As we would protect our homes from the rob- 
ber, who would steal our valuables, so should 

69 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

we protect our minds from destructive thoughts 
that would rob us of health, happiness, and 
peace. 

Never allow doubts and fears to enter your 
mind, as they are certain to unfit you for the 
duties of life and wreck the brightest hopes of 
the most optimistic. 

Bear in mind that whatever we allow our 
attention to dwell upon is sure to influence our 
mental and physical condition either toward 
that which is loving, cheering, and elevating, or 
toward that which is depressing, destructive, 
and degrading. 

If we permit the sad, dark pictures of life to 
occupy our minds and monopolize our time 
and attention, they will soon affect our rest and 
digestion, reduce our efficiency, and destroy our 
comfort and usefulness. 



70 



ANTICIPATION AND SELF-CONFI- 
DENCE 

EVERY conscious man and animal has the 
desire for Hfe and comfort, but man dif- 
fers from the lower animals in that he is able 
to anticipate, and this anticipation of the future 
may be so directed as to lift him to the glories 
of a paradise or sink him to the dungeons of 
a Hades. 

That which should be a blessing to man 
and make his daily life one of ecstasy, he 
often uses to manufacture troubles for himself. 
Man only by anticipation has the power to make 
his life miserable or happy. The pictures of the 
future which he paints for himself will make 
him what he is to be. They will bring him 
health, wealth, and wisdom^ or sickness, pov- 
erty, and distress. They will fill him with faith, 
hope, and joy, or darkness, doubt, and despair. 

Anticipation, oh, what an uplift it may be! 
We may derive a world of pleasure from an- 
ticipating what we are to become in the future. 
Anticipate health if you are sick; anticipate 
prosperity if you are in adversity; anticipate 

71 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

friendship if you are an outcast ; then labor to- 
ward the objects of your anticipations. 

The moment a man loses confidence in him- 
self he is a failure, for doubt and fears never 
bring forth success. They are the enemies of 
progress and prosperity. No sane man with a 
desire to succeed will ever depreciate his abili- 
ties or his efforts, for the world will never put 
a higher estimate upon him than he does upon 
himself. Your companions will accept you at 
the value you have stamped upon yourself. 
Mentally acknowledge to yourself that you are 
no good and the world will read your estimate 
in your countenance and believe the record true. 
But resolve that you are a man with a purpose 
and with absolute faith in yourself, and you 
immediately rise in the estimation of your own 
mind and in that of those you will meet, and 
success will crown your every effort. The re- 
sults of your work in any undertaking will be 
according to your faith in your own talents. 
Never admit to yourself or to any other person 
that your efforts might be a failure. Never 
acknowledge to yourself or to any other person 
that you are broke financially, morally, or physi- 
cally. Do not believe such suggestions. 

No matter how poor you may be, if you are 

72 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

determined to rise and will refuse to allow con- 
ditions to control you, no power on earth can 
keep you down. By constantly declaring that 
you fear no opposition and are the master of 
your mind and your abilities, you will conquer 
every foe, climb over every barrier, rise in the 
judgment of yourself and your fellow men, and 
win the objects of your desires and ambitions. 

The world loves to boost a hero, especially if 
the hero has fought his way up against heavy 
odds. Examples of this may be seen in every 
county in America. You stand and applaud a 
victor as he rides through the streets in his mag- 
nificent equipage, and you envy him the laurels 
he has won, while you have the same elements 
of success in you which he has, if you would 
only use them. 

When you undertake to do things which oth- 
ers have not the nerve to attempt, or the will to 
perform, you have inspired yourself, and this 
inspiration will fill you with an energy that will 
lift you above your fellows, and carry you be- 
yond the bounds of your most sanguine expec- 
tations. An absolute faith in self overcomes 
every enemy, removes every barrier, and de- 
stroys every fort in the way of the progressive 
man. 

73 



SELF-ESTEEM AND AMBITION 

SOME people find fault with a man for what 
they call self-esteem; but it is honest self- 
esteem that brings a man out of many of the 
disagreeable environments of every-day life, 
and gives him an individuality known and felt 
among his fellows. Self-esteem generates am- 
bition, hope, faith, anticipation, and speeds a 
man on the way to success. 

Lack of self-esteem is the weakness of many 
people in whole neighborhoods and municipali- 
ties. The old people say: "Why change the 
conditions which have been in existence so 
long? Let us live and die in peace." And the 
younger men have not the courage, self-confi- 
dence, and will power to say: "Away with all 
the antiquated, unhealthy conditions of the past, 
and let us have the modern improvements so 
beneficial to mankind.'' 

A merchant in a small city built a beautiful 
modest home, in which he had a modern bath- 
room, the only one in the city. His neighbors 
shook their heads at such extravagance and de- 
clared the merchant would soon become a bank- 

74 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

rupt and his family unhealthy, bathing in clear, 
crystal water piped from a mountain spring. 

How easily it is seen that conditions are 
thought-made. As your thoughts are, so will 
your conditions be. Optimistic thinking will 
lead to modern improvements, health, and pros- 
perity, while pessimistic thinking will keep man 
in filth, disease, and despair. 

If there is any person more dangerous and a 
greater curse to a community than another, it is 
the pessimist. He is like a mouse in a suffra- 
gette meeting — always causing trouble. He is 
more poisonous than the historic serpent that 
visited mother Eve in the Garden of Eden. The 
pessimist poisons commerce by destroying 
credit. He poisons progress by destroying 
faith. He poisons society by creating discord. 
He poisons the individual and causes disease 
and even death by mental suggestion. Pessi- 
mists are murderers of civilization, murderers 
of business, murderers of friendships, and de- 
stroyers of human life itself. 

Drive out the pessimist and his doctrines, and 
have faith in your own individuality, in your 
own personality, acting in harmony with the 
Divine, and you will rise above the influences 
which surround you. 

75 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

And laugh the pessimist to scorn, 
And all his hopes which are forlorn. 

Some people say they cannot get above the 
conditions which surround them, which bind 
them as by the fetters of fate. They beHeve it 
was their misfortune that landed them in their 
unfavorable positions. How often we hear these 
complaints : "Fate is against me.'' "Luck has 
blocked my way." There is no such thing as 
luck. Conditions are thought-made, and if you 
are thinking and living as you should, you will 
have no bad fortune. Complainers point to per- 
sons who have risen to golden places in busi- 
ness, without any apparent effort on their part, 
and call them lucky. How do they know but 
that the parties they point to as having been 
lucky, have won their distinction by their own 
mental phenomena ? If you are fettered by any 
condition that would impede your progress up- 
ward and onward, the thing to do is to get out 
of your bondage. Escape from your environ- 
ment. If the field in which you are employed 
keeps you down, and prevents you from assert- 
ing your supremacy over your conditions, and 
hinders you from securing your desires and de- 
veloping your abilities, then get out of all these 

76 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

circumstances that would hedge you in, even if 
you have to make a sacrifice to do so. 

Many a distinguished man who became great 
and useful in the world and a blessing to hu- 
manity would have been useless and unheard of 
if he had always remained in the poor, undesir- 
able conditions which surrounded him in his 
youth. 

Many a farmer's boy 

Desired a schooling privilege 
Which seemed beyond his reach. 

Where he might gain the knowledge 
Which schools of science teach. 

But his environment said it was impossible. 
His home demands said it was impossible. And 
if he had believed it impossible, he never would 
have distinguished himself as a great lawyer, an 
eloquent statesman, a wealthy merchant, or a 
brilliant inventor. Thoughts brought forth de- 
sires which crystallized into actions ; and driven 
by a strong will, the man rose from his humble, 
rural home to surprise the nation with his en- 
terprises and wealth. 

There are mental giants who have allowed 
simple conditions to hamper their thoughts, 
cloud their perceptions, and destroy their de- 

77 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

sires and ambitions until they have become 
weakHngs, and are useless to the world and to 
themselves, because they lacked self-esteem and 
the dynamic force of will. 

If you would expand your faculties and fill 
the position for which nature has prepared you, 
you must not permit any material consideration 
to block your way. It may take a great deal of 
effort, concentration of thought, and material 
sacrifice to reach the object of your desires, but 
determined action and systematic thought will 
win the day. The majority of men and women 
who have shone as stars in business and profes- 
sions have had to struggle upward. It is a fact 
that the pathway to knowledge, power, health, 
and prosperity is mountainous, with many pro- 
jecting cliffs to stop our forward march, but 
earnest desire, patience, and persistent willing 
will reach the loftiest summit and win the 
longed for prize. 

Lack of faith and fear of temporary loss have 
kept many a man from occupying the position 
he should fill and for which nature fitted him. 
He feared to make a change from his menial, 
position lest he might not make good and should 
be thrown out of employment. But remember 
this, that He who gave you the ambition and 

78 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

desire to rise will not mock you in your strug- 
gle nor forsake you when you are in need. 

For if He feeds the birds that cry, 
And watches sparrows when they die, 
How much more shall He clothe and feed 
The man He made, when he's in need. 

Yoked to the Divine, we have no right to 
fear, no right to doubt or hesitate. 

Possessed of life and light divine, 
We will o'er all our troubles shine. 
And be on earth supreme. 

We cannot lay too much stress on the im- 
portance of right thinking. For if the character 
of our thoughts alters the structure of our 
brains, as leading scientists aver, we should be 
careful to permit only healthy, loving, elevating 
thoughts to lodge in our minds. 

Our perceptive faculties should ever stand as 
guard at the door of our minds and call the at- 
tention of our wills to the character of the 
thoughts that desire to enter, and our wills 
should stop every impure, undesirable idea that 
would be unprofitable to us or the world. 

Many may claim they lack that will power 
that would enable them to rid their minds of 
impure thoughts and accomplish their desires. 

79 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

They perceive what is necessary; they have a 
desire to do what they perceive to be right and 
profitable, but do not exercise their will power 
sufficiently to carry it out. 

Many persons desire things and conditions 
which they never attempt to secure. They de- 
sire health, but hang onto the conditions of 
thought that make for illness. They desire 
friends, but refuse to show themselves friendly. 
They desire wealth, but continue to follow the 
rules which lead to failure. They desire pros- 
perity, but live in dread of adversity. De- 
sires that do not produce are like seeds that 
never germinate. They are dead and useless. 
Your desires will be no benefit to you if they do 
not get beyond feeling, and they will never get 
beyond feeling and be incorporated into any- 
thing useful and lasting, unless your will power, 
by dominant, persistent action, endeavors to 
gratify your desires in legitimate ways. 

That you should give earnest attention to the 
development of your will is of the greatest im- 
portance, for without it you cannot have any 
measure of independence and influence. And 
this work may be accomplished in the prompt 
exercise of your will in the necessary duties of 
every-day life. 

80 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

The man who hesitates on these things or al- 
ters his course of thought and action with every 
fresh suggestion made to him will never win 
anything of importance, and his will will be like 
the shifting waves of the sea, tossed to and fro. 

Hesitation and indecision are evident weak- 
nesses in modern business life. These twin- 
brothers are ruining large numbers of indi- 
viduals, corporations, and administrations. He 
who carries hesitation with him in his daily af- 
fairs cannot progress, and he who waits for 
some rich favor to drop into his hand will be 
disappointed. We should live in expectation of 
the good things that should come to us, but we 
should also work to secure them. It will not do 
to sit down and fold your arms and say : "The 
world owes me a living, and I am going to wait 
until I get it.'' That is what the drone bee says 
as he sits in the hive, living upon the product of 
the efforts of others; but his life is short and 
his end is tragic. 

You possess the power within you to suc- 
ceed. Then why not use it ? Every sane man 
has the power of intelligence within him, ca- 
pable of giving him health, prosperity, and 
making him supreme over all the foes of man- 
kind. Do you believe it? Then be a living, 

8i 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

positive force, and not a human chameleon, 
changing your condition with every new envi- 
ronment by which you may be surrounded. 

Live a Hfe full of kindness, patience, and un- 
selfishness, which may be so indelibly written 
upon the rising generations around you that 
they will need no marble monument to perpetu- 
ate your memory when you have gone, because 
the beautiful character which you bequeathed 
to the world 

Daily showed your heart and mind 
In the Hves you left behind. 

Your career is a field which should produce a 
harvest of good ideas that should assist in en- 
riching the world and elevating mankind. But 
if you have drifted on in life without anchoring 
on any permanent thought or concentrating 
upon any useful idea that will help you and 
others, then start at once, for you are never too 
old to begin. 

The thoughts which you generate and cast 
upon the world will continue indefinitely, for 
the forces which you set in motion never cease 
to exert an influence, but keep on forever ; hence 
the importance of the thoughts and actions 
which you scatter by the way as you go. 

82 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

Many a man makes a great mistake at fifty or 
sixty years of age, in deciding that he is an old 
man and should cease to work and take an in- 
terest in the affairs of life. Just at the time 
when his experience is an asset to the world, he 
sells out his interests or hands them over to 
others and retires from business 

And sits and smokes his time away, 
Awaiting death and funeral day, 
While he might many years enjoy 
In thought and heart just Hke a boy. 

Yes, we might be boys at fifty, sixty, or sev- 
enty years of age, if we would think so, and live 
as we should, in the spirit of youth, taking an 
interest in the growth and development of the 
life that surrounds us. 

But if you keep living in the past, reciting the 
reminiscences of former years and dreading the 
future and what it will bring, thinking and talk- 
ing of decay, and expecting it to arrive, it will 
certainly come and bring with it a host of trou- 
bles that will cripple your limbs, kill your effi- 
ciency, sour your disposition, and make you a 
nuisance to all with whom you live. 

I have known many characters, each of whom 
was a daily pest to his family and friends be- 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

cause of the morose, crotchety, sour temper he 
developed while sitting rehearsing the history 
of his life, which generally was very uninterest- 
ing. 

Never permit yourself to be elected to the 
society of the has-beens or dozvn-and-outs of 
the world, for you are never permanently down 
if you are on top of the earth, and they cannot 
count you out if you are conscious and can 
think, speak, and will. 

No matter how far down you have allowed 
yourself to be driven by circumstances, you can 
rise again and be supreme if you will. 

If you decide to overcome the conditions 
which surround you, and will to rise, there is 
nothing that can prevent you. "Where there is 
a will, there is a way." 

If the million has-beens of this country, who 
think they are dozvn-and-outs, would only use 
their wills and suddenly rise, they would send a 
thrill through this world that would be felt to 
the uttermost parts of the earth. 

There are latent forces enough pent up in the 
has-beens and dozvn-and-outs, if they would will 
to use them, to lift the nations of the earth into 
an activity never before experienced or seen. 

We hear much in these days of intensive 
84 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

farming, where the tiller of the soil so cultivates 
and fertilizes his land that he changes a barren, 
worthless tract into the most productive fields 
of earth, which yield abundant crops to reward 
him for his labor, and enrich the state and na- 
tion. So may the barren, neglected minds be 
developed, and by fresh desires and forceful 
wills be lifted to enrich the world with new 
thoughts, progressive ideas, and moral, elevat- 
ing characters. 

It is not only the delightful privilege of the 
down-and-outs to rise, but it is their duty, and 
the rewards which are in store for them are be- 
yond human computation. 

It is a great mistake for a man to think that 
because he failed in business and lost all his 
money, that he is ruined completely and per- 
manently. No man is ruined completely who is 
in possession of a sound mind, and if he has, in 
addition to a sound mind, a healthy body, he is 
rich in resources that a will can make a great 
success of. 

This big, busy world is full of golden oppor- 
tunities, awaiting the man with a sound mind, 
a healthy body, and confidence enough in him- 
self to take hold of one of them and hustle it 
into a profitable issue. Some of the most suc- 

85 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

cessful men in America have come up through 
failures, losses, and even bankruptcy, and 
finally won wealth, respect, and admiration. 

The soldier who abandons the field on the 
first defeat is not a patriot and will never win 
promotion in the army of his country ; nor does 
the business man who throws up his hands and 
says, "All is lost and I am ruined," just because 
he has made a loss or a failure in any line, 
deserve success or the respect and sympathy of 
his fellows. 

I have seen a great man swept down by a 
money panic which brought down with him 
many of his friends and creditors who were 
much distressed and disheartened, but when 
they had their first meeting after the panic, and 
this great man said to his creditors, "Cheer up, 
we are going to rise again in the business world, 
and not only regain all we have lost, but advance 
far beyond anything we have ever had," he 
turned the tide of their affairs, which started 
up and onto success and victory that came in 
proportions far beyond their most sanguine ex- 
pectations. 



86 



THE HUMAN FACE 

THOUGHTS are seeds which germinate in 
the mind and bring forth their kind, 
which show up in the physical expression of the 
individual. Read the actions and faces of the 
people before you in a street car or in an audi- 
ence room, and see how easily you can name the 
classes of thought they have held in their minds. 

They may have supposed their thinking was 
secret, but on each countenance has been indel- 
ibly written a catalogue of the ideas their minds 
have entertained. Success or failure can easily 
be read in the actions and physiognomy of every 
man and woman, and this is why appearances 
favor or condemn persons as they step out 
upon the stage of life. 

Appearance is a valuable asset to every man 
and woman, and should be guarded with care 
and improved, for it means success or failure 
in all lines of business and in every profession. 
A clean shave, fresh hair-cut, clean linen, pol- 
ished shoes, and a smiling face have secured for 
many a man a good position, while the opposite 
have defeated all efforts to find employment. 

87 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

Civilization loves a smiling face and a clean, 
tidy appearance even in a rag-picker. The 
world has no use for an unkempt and discour- 
aged-looking man. He is unwelcome in every 
business, profession, and society, and is a nui- 
sance to himself and to his neighborhood. He 
carries such a hopeless look that he becomes a 
depressing influence wherever he goes, and is 
shunned by people. He is undesirable as an 
employee, companion, or neighbor. 

But the world always has a place for the man 
who is full of hope. In the home, the factory, 
the market place, in society and politics, he is 
ever welcome, for his smiling face is an indica- 
tor which points to success. 

Hope makes the darkest clouds transparent, 

Freeing us from doubt and fear. 
Makes the loudest thunders music, 

Filling us with sunny cheer, 

Hope is the brilliant star which lights up the 
pathway to happiness, health, wealth, and wis- 
dom. It is the stimulator of the toil-worn work- 
man, whose desires never pass the boundary of 
his little farm or the walls of his cottage home. 
It leads the prospector along paths where 
human feet have never trod, and bears up the 

88 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

traveller in his weary march. It nerves the sol- 
dier in his battle against his foe, and the sailor 
in his voyage o'er the sea. 

We have no good reason to be discouraged 
when there is so much within our reach, so 
much we may claim as our own. For our birth- 
right includes abundance for body, mind, and 
spirit, and why should we hesitate about claim- 
ing our rights ? 

Many who were born in poverty believe they 
were intended to be poor and should be con- 
tented to live in a destitute condition. This is a 
great mistake. The Loving Father who sends 
His sunlight down upon all, without respect of 
persons and fans each human cheek with balmy 
air, will surely give them what they need, if at 
His table they will feed. 

Learn a lesson from the plant as it persist- 
ently creeps around some dark obstacle to 
bathe its tiny head in the life-giving beams of 
the morning sun, that it may grow, bud, and 
blossom, so that this world may be the sweeter 
and more beautiful because of its life and pres- 
ence on this earth. So should we mentally and 
physically step into the glorious light of the 
divine life, where our growth and development 
will not only bring us all the enjoyments of an 

89 



INDIVIDUAL MASTERY 

earthly paradise, but also the pleasure of play- 
ing our part as best we can for the benefit of 
our fellow men. 

If you would enjoy this life with all its inter- 
esting and profitable possibilities, be an asset in 
this world and not a liability. If you would be 
of any value, or would gain anything of value 
upon this planet, keep your mental dynamo, the 
will, in high-class order, that it may speed you 
on to greater and nobler things. For your use- 
fulness, knowledge, power, and prosperity will 
be according to what you will them to be. 

As I have seen many people who had appar- 
ently been off the track for years, bumping 
along over ties and rocks in the pathway of 
life, considered by themselves and others as 
failures and prospective liabilities, change their 
thinking and acting and become prosperous and 
happy, I am hopeful of any and every one who 
has a sound mind and a will to use it. 

If you will hitch your abilities to a will elec- 
trified by a divine connection, nothing on earth 
can keep you down. 

You will surely win success, 
Health and wealth and blessedness. 



90 



Regarding lectures by the author on mod- 
ern methods that produce success, address 
Henry Sherin, New York City^ N. Y. 



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